Sake and Red Ribbons
by fmdevil
Summary: Zoro notices the crew acting wierd towards him.He spends the day trying to firgure out what is going on with the crew,as well as wrapping his head around his complicated relationship with a certain mikan-head.One-shot written for Zoro's b-day.Rated LM for LeMon.Happy Birthday Zoro!


It is November 11th and my favorite character's birthday; so this is just a one-shot I came up with to celebrate it.

It is rated M for sexual content that may not be suitable for younger readers. You have been warned.

I do not own One Piece, but that doesn't mean I can't at least say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZORO..!"

**Sake and Red Ribbons**

As Zoro started to rouse to consciousness he could see and feel the warmth of the light creeping into the window of his room. He could hear the voices of the local villagers outside the inn that he and his fellow nakama had booked the evening before. He found himself quickly closing his eye to allow time for his vision to adjust for the glare of the morning sun. While lying there motionless he took notice of the lack of body heat that had been next to him before he had drifted off to sleep. He opened his eye again to look at the now empty spot beside him as he let his mind wander to what had transpired the night before.

She had come to him again, he remembered as he could still smell the familiar fragrance of mikans on his bed sheets. He found himself sitting up in his bed and taking both of his hands to run through his hair as he continued to stare at the now empty spot beside him. She had snuck-in in the middle of night and had crawled into bed with him: he could almost still hear her heavy breathing and panting as well as the sound of his name sliding off her tongue as she reached that critical point, he could almost still feel the warmth of her body, he could almost still taste her, but as with every morning after, she was still gone when he awoke.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and proceeded to gather his clothes and swords before dressing and leaving the room. He could hear the boisterous voices of the rest of his crew as he made his way down the hall towards the large dining area of the inn. As he entered the room he saw all of them, but especially her, as they all laughed and loudly chatted about all different kinds of things. Before approaching the table he took a moment to think about how his late night encounters with the mikan-head had all began.

The first time was right after they saved Robin from Enies Lobby and had just added Franky and the 1000 Sunny to their crew. They had all been celebrating, as well as drinking, on their new ship. It had been his night for watch, but before that, she had challenged him to a drinking contest. Zoro still couldn't remember all the details, but somewhere during the drinking contest, after all the rest of the crew had already retired for the night, they had ran out of alcohol and decided to continue their contest by trying to one-up one another. With all inhibitions out the window, because of the added effect of the alcohol, the two wound up in each other's heated embrace, crossing a boundary that could never be uncrossed.

But who was Zoro trying to kid; the alcohol had nothing to do with it. It was the combined effects of sexual tensions, as well as other built-up emotions that had put the two of them in each other's company that night. But after the night was over and Zoro had awoken the next morning; she wasn't there. She had left sometime in the middle of the night, causing Zoro to wonder if he had made a mistake. For the next several days to pass the two of them were awkward around each other. The incident was never talked about nor repeated. Luckily neither had much time to dwell on the matter because they had plenty of distractions with the events of both Thriller Bark and Sabaody Archipelago, and the crew found themselves separated for two long years.

But after he returned from Kuraigana Island it happened again. While Franky and Rayleigh were busy working on the ship; Nami had ran into Zoro at Shakky's Rip-off Bar, and the two drank well into the night to celebrate meeting up again. Sometime during the night Shakky had left the bar to the two of them, and they wound up in each other's embrace once again. But just like the first time, when Zoro woke up, he was alone; which led him to go and try to find someone to take him fishing so he could try and get his mind off of the night before. But after entering the New World, it would happen time and time again.

Each night together was different. Sometimes it would be aggressive, as the two would go at each other like they were battling for dominance. Other times would be playful, as they tried new positions as well as ways to surprise one another. Some would be exploratory, as they would map each other's bodies, not wanting to forget a single spot that the other enjoyed. And other times would be sensual, as they would take their time and exchange long passionate kisses, and desperately grab at and hold each other, almost as if they were afraid the other would try and run away. But after every time, one thing would remain the same; Nami would be gone by morning.

Zoro shook his head slightly trying to rid himself of those thoughts, as he completely entered the room and approached the table. As the rest of his nakama noticed his presence they all grew unusually quiet; the only thing that could be heard was the sound of Luffy's nonstop chewing of food. He skeptically looked at everyone at the table before taking the only open seat left between Robin and Usopp and directly across from Nami.

"Good morning kenshi-san." Robin spoke, breaking the odd silence. "Did you sleep well?"

Zoro only grunted in reply as he continued to look at the faces of the rest of the crew, noticing that several would not make eye contact with him, before his one good eye would come to a stop on the mikan-head directly in front of him. She too would not make eye contact with him as a small blush over took her face and she quickly looked down towards the plate in front of her. All of their actions were causing him to become suspicious as he wondered if he had done something to get this reaction from the crew. He started to wonder if his and Nami's little secret was somehow discovered. And right before he addressed the entire crew to see what they were acting so strangely for…

"Um… shouldn't we… shouldn't we get going to do that thing?" Usopp spoke up while looking at Luffy, only to get a confused look from the captain in response.

"What thing?" Luffy questioned back to the sniper; completely oblivious to what the other man was referring to and never stopping from his excessive eating.

"You know…" Usopp spoke again. "The thing you, me, Chopper, Brook, and Franky were gonna do while Sanji and Nami went shopping for supplies." The long-nose gazed intently at the Straw-hat wearing teen, hoping that the other would understand what he was trying to hint at.

"Oh…" Luffy exclaimed as Usopp's words finally registered. "You mean that thing we are doing for Z…"

Franky, who had been sitting directly beside Luffy, quickly covered the rubber-man's mouth with his large hand. "Well look at the time." The cyborg said never letting go of his captain's mouth. "We better get a move on if we want to do that SUPER thing Usopp was talking about." He then stood up, soon followed by most of the crew to drag Luffy away from the table; leaving Zoro to look on in confusion.

But Zoro decided not to press the issue. Instead he just grabbed the plate that was in front of him and started to reach for some of the food that had been piled on center of the table… "Wait Franky…" Zoro heard Luffy scream out. "There's still food left!" Luffy then ran back to the table and proceeded to scoop up the remainder of the food in one large bite, before sprinting out the door of the inn, and disappearing into the town.

"What the hell was all that about?" Zoro grumbled aloud while staring at his still empty plate, as he realized that the entire crew had left him alone and without breakfast. At least that was what he had thought until he heard a small chuckle to his blind side, before turning to see that Robin was still there.

Zoro only sat and stared at the older woman in silence; hoping that his intense gaze would cause her to explain what had just transpired, but she only gave him her trademark polite smile in return before asking him a question of her own.

"So kenshi-san, did you have anything special that you were going to do in town today?"

Zoro let out a defeated sigh as he realized that whatever the rest of the crew were up to, she wasn't going explain. "Well… I saw a weapons shop after we all made our way through town yesterday, and I thought I might check it out." He answered Robin.

"I figured you might say that." The raven-haired woman spoke again. "And if I recall correctly; that particular shop was located right next to the bookstore. Why don't I join you?"

"Hmph" Zoro responded with a nod of his head to confirm that he didn't mind. Seeing as there was no breakfast left for him to eat; the two left the inn shortly after to make their walk across town towards the shops that they wanted to visit.

The town was a very small one, and a very quiet one at that. The majority of the town seemed to make its living off of all the pirates passing through while on their journeys in the New World. The Straw-hats had arrived at the town's port rather late in the previous evening after most of the town's shops were closing up. Luffy, finding the town rather boring looking, had wanted to just move on to the next island, but after much deliberation, their resident navigator had convinced him that a night on solid land would do the entire crew some good. Plus the sign on the front of the inn that read free breakfast helped persuade both the captain's and navigator's decision.

As Zoro and Robin continued to walk the streets in silence; the swordsman couldn't help but continue to wonder what his crew was up to. Was he missing something? Was there something on this island or in this town that he wasn't supposed to know about? But his thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of Robin's voice asking him a question.

"So kenshi-san, how have you and navigator-san been getting along?"

Zoro snapped his head to look at the older woman beside, with genuine surprise written across his face. He hadn't been surprised by the fact that she knew; this was Robin after all, she knew everything that went-on on the ship, sometimes even before the people involved. But it was unlike her to delve into other people's business. Maybe she had just been trying to make small talk to fill the silence, or maybe she was trying to distract him from thinking about what the crew had been up to? Either way; Zoro didn't really want to talk about his and Nami's situation, so he opted out by asking a question of his own.

"How have you and Franky been getting along?"

"Whatever could you mean?" Robin responded with an all-knowing smile and a small chuckle, getting an "Hmph" from Zoro as the two continued to walk down the street, neither answering the other's question.

It was on one of the nights that Nami had come to him that Zoro had first noticed something going on with the archeologist and the shipwright. Zoro and Nami had just finished the first of many of their 'heated sessions' for that night, and Nami had asked him to go fetch her a glass of water from the kitchen. While Zoro was climbing down from the crows-nest, and not really paying attention to his surroundings, he happened to run into the cyborg whom had just snuck out of the women's quarters, and was heading to the kitchen himself. The two men shared an awkward moment on the deck before continuing what each had set out to do. A few days later the older male would start to approach Zoro on several different occasions; hoping to spread some of his wisdom on the matters of romance to the younger male, but quite often only got threatening glares in response instead of appreciation.

Having finally made their way to the weapons shop; the two Straw-hat pirates entered the building. The shop, like most of the village, was pretty small. But despite its size it had a good range of different types of weapons including: battle axes, long spears, spiked clubs, rifles, pistols, and swords of all styles shapes and sizes. At the back of the store was a counter where a middle aged man with thinning brown hair sat reading a paper, almost completely oblivious to the two people inside his store.

Zoro approached the counter and stood for several seconds while the man continued to read the paper before the swordsman eventually grew tired of being ignored and voiced his presence. "Oi, ossan*" Zoro almost barked at the man behind the counter to grab his attention.

Not realizing that Zoro or Robin were there before; the man nearly fell off the stool that he had been sitting on, as he clutched his hand over his chest in shock, while he regained his balance. "Where the hell did you come from?!" The man screamed at Zoro. "It's not polite to sneak up on people you little punk! Now what the hell do you want?!"

Zoro gave the man a stern glare before finally relaxing his face and telling the man why he was there. "It's been a while since my swords have had a proper sharpening; do you do that here?"

"Of course I do!" The man practically spat at Zoro, seaming somewhat insulted by the question. "I'm a master weapons smith! Sharpening a blade is child's-play for a man like me you little punk!"

Growing more irritated by the moment, Zoro could no longer hold back his own voice. "Well how much do you charge ossan?!" He screamed his question at the man, as a vain in his forehead started to pop out.

"Oh…" The volume of the man's voice dropped and the insulted look disappeared as he realized that Zoro was a potential customer. "I charge 1,000 beli per sword and that includes a cleaning as well."

Finally feeling he was getting somewhere with the shop-keep, Zoro let himself calm down as he thought about whether or not to leave his swords with the man. He could tell from the quality of blades resting against the walls and shelves that the man would take good care of them, and that the price was a very good price. But as he checked his person for money to have his swords serviced; he noticed that he was flat broke without a beli to his name.

"Is something the matter kenshi-san?" Robin asked, noticing the somewhat disappointed look on Zoro's face.

"I just realized that I don't have any money." He confessed.

"That's alright." The older woman said as her smile grew a little wider. "Go ahead and have smith-san sharpen them for you, I'll pay for it."

Zoro looked at her skeptically before asking her "Yeah? And how much interest are you going to charge me?"

The question caused Robin to respond with a small chuckle before she answered him. "I won't charge you any interest, in fact; I don't want you to pay me back at all. It will be my treat."

Zoro wasn't sure if he wanted Robin to pay for the sharpening or not, or why she was being so generous in the first place. But it really had been sometime since it was done, and with the unknown dangers of the New World, he couldn't afford for the swords to not be in optimal condition. So he gave in and accepted the archeologist's generosity, and handed his swords over to the man behind the counter.

After Robin paid the man; the master weapons smith had informed them that the sharpening and the cleaning would take about a total of two hours to complete. So to pass the time the two of them left the weapons shop so Robin could check out the book store while Zoro waited outside on a bench where he planned on taking a nap.

But his nap never came. Instead he found his mind wandering again. Why had Robin brought up his relationship with Nami? Was that the cause of the crew's weird behavior earlier? And what was his relationship with Nami? Zoro wasn't the type of person who would let himself be persuaded by feelings like lust. Lust was a distraction; one that he did not need on his journey to become the best swordsman in the world. Yet what were he and Nami doing? They had never sat down and had an actual conversation about their relationship, and the fact that she would always make sure to leave before the morning made him wonder if it was a relationship at all. Was he only a booty call? Someone she went-to to satisfy her own needs? Was he the only one? After all she did leave with Sanji earlier…

As he continued to ponder those questions he noticed a young couple across the street from him. They couldn't have been any older than he was. They had seemed to have been arguing over something that Zoro couldn't hear. The argument was actually getting pretty heated as the two were all but screaming in each other's faces, but eventually… the screaming stopped as the young man's shoulders slumped in defeat. Zoro noticed the smug, triumphant smile plastered across the woman's face as she turned to walk down the street, but the thing that Zoro found most peculiar was the small smile that played on the young man's own face as he followed in suite.

And that's when Zoro realized that the questions to himself about Nami's and his relationship hadn't really been fair to Nami. Nami was a lot of things; selfish, bossy, stubborn, and manipulative but the one thing she wasn't was shallow. Nami took emotions very seriously, and she wouldn't be the type to engage in meaningless sex with just anyone. In fact; as he looked back on the very first night, and the very first encounter, he could remember the look in her eyes. They didn't say 'Because anyone would do.' They had told him loud and clear that 'Only because it's you.' And he felt the same.

He couldn't imagine it being anyone else. He had never thought about having sex with Robin; nor with Perona, even during the entire two years he had spent under the same roof with her. It was only because it was with Nami. He was certain that his eyes must have told her the same. There was something deeper with Nami than he had with other women. He and Nami didn't need words to convey their emotions, words just got in the way. It was their actions that spoke loudest, and he wouldn't have it any other way. It was still bothering him that she didn't feel comfortable enough to stay the entire night with him, but he was sure she had her reasons. Maybe she was just scared? And how could he blame her? He wasn't really the type to be comfortable with letting people in either, but he already knew that he would let her in; in fact, he already had. And if her being scared was really the case; he would just have to give her more time.

Zoro really didn't know how long he had been sitting there thinking about his and Nami's relationship. Nor did he know how long Robin had been sitting next to him on the bench reading her newly purchased book. But he must have had a smile on his face, because when he did finally turn to notice Robin beside him, she looked back at him with that all knowing smile of hers.

"Well kenshi-san, your swords should be done by now." She spoke, never dropping her smile. "Should we pick them up and head back to the ship?"

Zoro only gave her a slight nod in response.

-0-0-0-0-

When Zoro and Robin had returned to the ship it was already lunch time. So the two made their way to the galley to sit down and have lunch with the rest of the crew. But as soon as Zoro entered the room; the entire crew had got deathly silent just like they had earlier. Again Zoro didn't voice his questions about the crew's odd behavior; instead he just ate lunch and gave each of his fellow crew members an odd glare to see if it would cause a response. Eventually Nami, realizing that the silence was too odd, would strike up a conversation with Robin, questioning the older woman what she and the swordsman did earlier in the day. Zoro didn't really pay much attention to the conversation and just continued eating.

After lunch the entire crew was quick to escape the galley. Zoro was about to leave himself to go train when Sanji spoke up to stop him.

"Oi marimo, where the hell do you think you're going?" The cook said while in between drags of his freshly lit cigarette. "You've got dish duty."

The cook's words confused Zoro slightly, he was sure that he had watch duty that night so there was no way he could have to wash the dishes as well. "Since when, dart-board-brow?"

"What, you don't believe me? Look at the chart." Sanji responded with a smug look on his face.

So Zoro walked over to the chart that listed the divided duties for the entire crew and saw that the person who was supposed to be on dish duty that day was actually Luffy, but Luffy had crossed out his own name and wrote Zoro's instead with the words 'Captain's orders' written next to it. Zoro then looked towards the huge pile of unwashed dishes before grumbling out some inaudible curses under his breath. The dish washing was gonna take hours.

The hours continued to tick by while Zoro washed dish after dish. He had noticed the ship had started to sway, which told him that they had set sail sometime after lunch. Sanji had remained in the kitchen as well; occasionally reprimanding the swordsman for something while making preparations for the crew's dinner. Zoro wondered how there could have been this many dishes to wash considering only one meal had been made on the ship that day. Quite a few of the dishes were for baking, and Zoro couldn't remember any baked goods during lunch either; but he put it to the back of his mind as the pile of dishes eventually grew smaller, and there were only a few left. Finally Zoro had finished, just in time to go get an hour of training in before dinner would be called, but just as he put his hand on the door to leave…

"Oi marimo" The cook would call at him again.

"What..?" Zoro asked with irritation clearly visible on his face. "I did your damn dishes ero-cook, what the hell do you want now?!"

He heard the cook give an amused laugh as he started to turn around to face him before the Sanji answered him by saying "Here; catch."

As Zoro finished turning around he saw a bottle being tossed across the room towards him; he caught it with ease in his left hand before looking it over with skepticism. It was a bottle of sake, and not just any bottle, it was the good stuff. Zoro cocked his eyebrow as he looked at the cook with slight confusion, getting another amused laugh from the blonde man.

"You don't even know what day it is, do you marimo?" Sanji asked still getting a confused look from his rival. "It's Nov 11th." Zoro's eye widened in realization as the significance of that date started to set in. "I'm sure you don't like surprises; that is why I'm giving you a heads-up, at least try and act grateful to everyone when you walk out on deck."

Zoro let a small smile creep onto his face. He couldn't believe that he hadn't figured it out earlier. He chalked his lack of observation to the fact that his mind had been on a particular mikan-head for the majority of the day. "Yeah… thanks for the heads up curly-brow." He said to the cook before turning and heading out of the kitchen to proceed to the deck. "And thanks for the sake."

Sanji only responded by saying a muffled "Baka" before following suite and heading out to the deck right behind Zoro.

As Zoro walked out on deck; he was first noticed by Luffy who had been busy fighting with Usopp and Franky who had been desperately trying to hold him back from some food that was nearby. "Oi, it's Zoro!" Luffy shouted over the deck grabbing everyone's attention. "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZORO!" Everyone cheered in unison.

Zoro looked down towards the lawn deck to see the entire crew gathered. They were standing on the deck under a large banner strung up between the rope ladders leading up to the main-sail that read 'Happy Birthday Zoro' in big bold letters at the top of the banner, and 'You dumb bastard' written very small in the bottom corner of it (no doubt Sanji's contribution). There were also several barrels of ale already put out on the deck, as well as a few piles of yet to be cooked sea king meat, and four huge bowls of white rice sitting on top of tables that had been put out; all of Zoro's favorites*.

"Nani*, Zoro doesn't look surprised?" Luffy stated after looking at the thoughtful expression on his first-mate's face. "Oi Zoro; why aren't you surprised?!"

"Because the ero-cook ratted you guys out." Zoro explained pointing his thumb over his shoulder at Sanji before walking down the stairs to join the rest of his nakama.

"Damn you, you shitty-swordsman! I didn't tell you so that you'd sell me up the river!" The cook yelled furiously at Zoro's back as the man continued towards the lawn deck.

"Does it really matter captain?" Zoro questioned Luffy who had a visible pout on his face that the surprise birthday party that they had planned was no longer a surprise. "It doesn't need to be a surprise to still be a party, right?"

Hearing the word party out of his oldest friend's mouth put a huge smile on the rubber-man's face. "Yosh; let's party!" Luffy screamed out getting several cheers from the rest of his crew in response. "Sanji; cook the meat!"

-0-0-0-0-

The party had lasted for several hours: The meat had been the first thing to be finished off, along with the rice soon after. Then Zoro had somehow managed to convince all the straw-hats to have a drinking contest with him. Poor Chopper was the first to lose, as he competed in his brain point form, and his small body couldn't handle much alcohol. The next to drop out was Usopp; after only his fifth cup of ale, he mentioned something about coming down with a "If I drink any more I'll die disease" before passing out. Luffy; having never really been a fan of alcohol, was done immediately after Usopp; with Brook and Sanji soon to follow. The remaining four contestants, Zoro, Nami, Robin, and Franky, all decided it was best to stop their competition to attend to the growing pile of bodies on the deck.

As the party wound down Zoro was the last on deck; he found himself looking out over the ocean while finishing the bottle of sake that Sanji had given him. Even with his back turned he couldn't help but notice the extremely large figure of the resident ship-wright sneaking out of the men's quarters and heading up the stairs towards the women's quarters. Once he heard the door to the women's quarters click shut; Zoro shook his head a little from side to side before tipping it and the bottle of sake all the way back to finish every last drop of its contents, he then chucked the empty bottle over the ship's rail, before climbing the ropes that lead up the foremast to ascend to the crows-nest.

As Zoro entered the crows-nest he immediately noticed Nami sitting on the floor on top of a large blanket that had been laid out for a make shift bed. She was reading a book in the lantern light, while wearing a red silk-robe; she had undoubtedly been waiting for his arrival. Zoro stood near the entrance and quietly watched her; his eyes first landed on her brilliant mikan-colored hair as it seemed to glow in the light of the lantern, they then went to her beautiful light-brown eyes as they glided over the words in the book. He watched with great interest as she brought her index finger and her thumb up to her mouth as she wet her fingers with her tongue to assist with the turning of the next page. He watched with amusement as he noticed her bite down on her lower lip as she started to take great interest in the content of the book she was reading.

Finally feeling that he should make his presence known, he spoke a quiet "Oi" to grab her attention as a genuine smile crossed his face.

Removing her eyes from the book to look at the swordsman; Nami face broke into a smile of her own. "Bout time you got here baka." She told him in a playful voice as she lowered her book. "Get over here and sit down" she said patting her hand on the blanket beside her "I have something for you."

Zoro gave no argument as he crossed the room; he removed his swords from his sash, placing them on the bench nearby, and sat where she had instructed. He watched as she moved on to her knees to lean towards the bench that surrounded the room. He couldn't take his eye off her as she opened the seat cover and bent forward to place the book in the storage compartment, causing the robe she was wearing to slide further up to reveal more of the porcelain white skin of her smooth legs. He fought down the urge to reach out and place his hand on the now bare skin of her outer thighs as she continued to rummage through the storage space. He noticed a quick clicking noise and the light of a small flame coming from in front of the mikan-head as she made sure to keep whatever it was hidden with her body. She straightened her back and turned to him, still on her knees, to reveal to him a small plate with cake and lit candle on top of it.

The cake was round and only about six inches (15cm) in diameter. It was white cake, and was topped off with a thin layer of orange colored frosting with the lit candle sticking directly in the center of it.

While carefully balancing the plate in one hand; Nami maneuvered over to Zoro, sat down in his lap and used her free arm to wrap it around Zoro's shoulders to help hold her in place. Zoro in kind, wrapped one arm loosely behind her back, letting his hand rest on the side of her waist.

"I made this for you with Sanji's help while Robin was keeping you distracted in town earlier." She told him, drawing his attention towards the cake.

"I don't really like sweets." Zoro informed her dryly.

"You're going to eat it, and you're going to like it." Nami responded in a low threatening tone, before a sickly sweet smile over took her face and she continued in sweet tone of voice. "Now make a wish and blow out the candle."

Zoro let out a defeated sigh before closing his eye and taking a moment to think of a wish. He then took in a sharp intake of air before releasing it and blowing out the candle. With the candle out, Nami lowered the plate down to her lap. She then reached up to her hand that was resting on Zoro's shoulder to retrieve the fork that she had been holding in it, before returning her attention back onto the cake.

Taking the fork and filling it with a piece of the cake; she lifted it up to Zoro's mouth, waiting for him to open it and accept the cake. Zoro glared at her intently hoping that she would let him out of eating it, but she only met his glare with an equally intense one. After a few tense seconds of the glaring, Zoro finally gave in; he rolled his eye in annoyance as he hesitantly opened his mouth so she could push the fork in and he could eat the spongy food. As he sat and chewed the cake, he noticed that she stared intently waiting to get his reaction. After swallowing he grumbled out "It's good", causing the mikan-head to break out into a huge smile. She then plunged the fork back into the cake and took a bite of it herself.

The two continued to eat the cake in silence, alternating bites. Zoro watched Nami closely; noticing the way the smile never left her face as the two of them sat there. He wondered to himself how many more times he would succumb to this woman; sitting on his lap, feeding him something that he wouldn't normally eat otherwise, just smiling away and acting like it was all normal. But he realized that he was secretly enjoying every moment of it, in fact; he enjoyed it all, the black mailing, the arguing, even when she hit him, he enjoyed every second of it, because he knew that when she got her way, when she won, she would smile, and he loved that smile, he would do anything, put up with anything, just to see that smile.

Nami finished the last bite of the cake and put the plate behind them on top of the bench. "I have another gift for you." She told him as her smile turned from a happy one to a seductive one.

Zoro just sat quietly and watched as she scooted off of his lap to stand on her knees directly in front of him. Her hands traveled over her stomach to rest on the thin silk belt that was tied in the front of her robe. She slowly untied the belt, while biting down on her lower lip. Her chocolate brown eyes locked directly onto his one good eye, as she made sure his gaze was watching her hands intently. She then slowly parted the robe and let it fall from her shoulders before tossing it towards the bench. Zoro sat and stared in amazement at the sight in front of him: her slim curvy figure was exposed to him wearing nothing but a long red ribbon that was carefully wrapped around her to cover only her most intimate of parts, with the ribbon coming up to wrap around her bountiful breasts into a perfect bow.

Nami then proceeded to crawl closer to him to straddle his lap before bringing her index finger up to his chin to close his jaw that had been hanging open loosely. "Well… are you just going to sit there, or are you going to unwrap your present?" She told him in a dangerously sultry voice.

Zoro didn't respond with words or sound, he instead only gave her a dangerous smirk of his own before reaching up with both hands to undue the bow of the ribbon. Once the bow was undone, he slowly unwrapped the ribbon from around her slender form and placed it on the ground next to them. He then placed both hands on her waist to pull her body closer to his own, burying his face in the crook of her neck to inhale her addictive familiar scent, getting a small giggle from her in return. Once her excited giggle subsided; Nami quickly moved her hands to slide them up his chest to his shoulders, once to his shoulders she attempted to begin to remove his yukata, but she was stopped by his hands coming up and grasping her wrists.

"What do you think you are doing witch?" Zoro told her as he gave her a stern glare.

"I'm removing your clothes baka. What did you think I was doing?" She responded to him confused by his actions.

"I thought this was my gift, not yours?" His expression was hardened and serious, but she could sense no anger behind his voice, if anything; she would almost say it was mischievous. "Who said you could just do whatever you wanted? Maybe I should find a way to make you keep your hands to yourself for a bit."

Zoro's dangerous smirk returned as he started to move both of Nami's hands to behind her back. He was able to let go of one while grasping both in one hand. With his free hand he reached down beside him and picked up the ribbon that he had removed from her only moments before. Realizing what his intentions were; Nami closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip, she put up no struggle as he bound her hands behind her back with the ribbon and tied them in place by wrapping the ribbon around her waist and tying it together in front of her stomach.

"There, that's better." He whispered into her ear, causing a small shiver to go all the way up her spine. "Now where should I start?"

Zoro slowly lowered her off his lap and onto her back. He lowered himself to hover over her, supporting his weight on one side with his elbow and knee with his other leg stretched over her. He lowered his head back to her throat so he could claim it with his mouth as he slowly started to massage one of her breasts with the hand he wasn't using for support; a sensual moan escaped the lips of the mikan-head now under his power. He continued to kiss and nibble his way up her neck to her jawline, and then to her ear as his hand delicately moved around on her breast, towards her already hardened nipple to lightly pinch it between his thumb and index fingers, causing her entire body to buck as she moaned out again. He gave her ear a final nibble before leaving it and starting a new path towards her mouth. He left a light kiss on her cheek, and then let his mouth hover over hers. She wantonly raised her head to meet his mouth with her own… only to have him retract his entire head, denying her the kiss that she had tried to take. He gave her a cocky grin as he gazed at her, taking full notice of the obvious pout on her beautiful face from being denied what she had sought once again. Removing his hand from her breast, he took hold of her chin with his index finger and thumb so she would not be able to move her head as he placed a teasing kiss on her forehead.

"We're doing what I want, remember?" He reminded her in a low playful voice, as he stared directly into her lust filled eyes.

Removing his hand from her chin; he placed his fingers in between the valley of her breasts and slowly started to walk them down her stomach as he attached the other side of her throat with his mouth once again. As his fingers continued to move down her body, so did his mouth, kissing a trail along her collarbone, and then down the valley that his fingers had been only moments before, and resting on her breasts. As he started to place soft kisses around her generous breasts his fingers made their final decent down her body and to her most intimate of places, so that he could gently rub them over her folds. He listened carefully to her soft moans and her ever quickening breathing as he continued to tease her with both his mouth and fingers. "Zoro… that feels fantastic." She was able to mutter out between heavy breaths. As if those were words of encouragement; Zoro thrust two fingers into her, getting no resistance due to the fact that she had already been soaked with her own juices, as he sucked her hardened nipple into his mouth, flicking it with his tongue and causing her to squirm and moan louder under his touch. Nami's panting and breathing became very ragged, she desperately tried to convey how she was feeling to the swordsman in between her moans of pleasure "Zoro… if you… keep going like that I'm gonna…" but her sentence, as well as her climax, was completely cut off as Zoro immediately stopped all his action after hearing the sound of her voice.

"Wh… Why did you stop?" Nami asked him in a pleading voice.

"Because I didn't give you permission yet" Zoro answered in a teasing voice.

"Quit teasing me baka!" Nami screamed at him with frustration clearly visible on her face.

Zoro didn't say anything more. Instead he let out a low chuckle as he repositioned himself. Splitting her legs apart with his hands, he sat down onto his legs with them crossed beneath him directly in-between hers. He then moved both of his arms under her legs and thighs and slightly lifted her up, making her arch her back. She did her best to look down through her own cleavage at him as he slowly started to move his face towards the already wet and sensitive area that he had been working with his fingers before. He gave her a cunning smile before making the final dive with his mouth towards her womanhood.

Feeling his hot mouth on her already sensitive area, Nami let out a long moan of pleasure as her entire body started to tingle from the excitement. She quickly bit down on her lower lip and tried to turn her entire body to bury her face in the blanket they were on top of, fearing that if the swordsman heard her he would stop giving her the pleasure that she craved to continue the torment he had been doing to her moments ago. Little did she know that her attempts to cover her sound were not needed; Zoro had decided that he had punished the mikan-head long enough and was determined to bring her to the release that she so desperately craved. He continued to work his mouth and tongue over and inside her delicate area; inwardly reveling every time he heard her muffled sounds, or when her entire body would contort to try and allow him more access to the parts where she wanted his mouth the most. He knew that she was only moments away from her much desired climax long before her body seemed to know. Suddenly her body went rigid and her vision flashed bright white, despite the fact that her eyes had been closed, as she felt the release that she had been longing for rush over her, as well as her juices flood freely out of her. She shook violently as she tried to regain control of her body, as Zoro continued to use his mouth on her, waiting for her to calm down.

Once her movements calmed, Zoro slowly eased her to the floor, and patiently waited for her to recover. As her vision started to clear; she sought out his face, to look into his piercing gaze, and she watched as he wiped her juices off his face with the back of his arm and hand. "Un…" She tried to speak while struggling to regain her composure.

"What was that?" He questioned her with a triumphed smile on his face.

"Untie me…" She was finally able to say with a feral look in her eyes, one similar to that of a predator ready to pounce on its prey. "Untie me right now baka." After seeing the look on the mikan-head's face, Zoro was only happy to comply.

Zoro slowly untied the ribbon from around her waist, knowing the longer he took, the more impatient Nami would get. Once her hands and arms were finally free; Nami quickly sprung upwards before lunging herself at him, tackling him to the floor in the process and causing his head to collide with the floor with an un-ceremonial thud. But it wasn't pain that he let escape his lips because of the contact with the floor; it was an amused laughter as the woman who was now mounting him desperately clawed to undo the sash keeping his yukata in place. Within seconds the ferocious Nami had Zoro completely stripped and naked, before taking his exposed arousal in her hand and slowly stroking him as she started a trail of kisses up his scar to his shoulder. With her free hand she raked her fingernails across his chest, leaving red scratch marks in their wake, as she attached his neck with her mouth, biting down on his neck hard to leave her mark, causing him to let out a pleasurable groan of his own.

Upon hearing the swordsman's groan, Nami paused and moved her face to hover over his own. "That's for teasing me earlier." She said as a cunning smile formed on her face. "Now I'm going to get what I want."

Zoro had no time to respond to the authoritative mikan-head as she smashed her lips onto his, finally claiming his mouth for herself like she had tried to do earlier. But Zoro wasn't going to let her completely take control; he quickly reached behind her head with one of his hands, pulling her closer to return her kiss with a passionate vigor of his own. As he deepened the kiss; he licked her lips with his tongue, demanding entry into her mouth which she allowed. As she opened her mouth to allow his tongue to enter; he quickly darted it inside to begin to wrestle her own to try and show that he could still dominate at least one part of her despite her now being in a position of control. The two continued their battle with their mouths, only breaking apart for a brief moment to breath before returning to each other's mouth. During their passionate tongue battle, Nami's hold on Zoro's man sword never let up; instead she grasped it firmer as she repositioned herself to straddle over him, and guided his sword into her sheath.

They simultaneously moaned into each other's mouths with pleasure at the feeling of their bodies joining together. Nami slowly started to work herself up and down the swordsman's manhood and began to moan in rhythm with her movements. Zoro found it hard to concentrate on his attempts to dominate her mouth as his body started to over fill with the pleasure of being inside the mikan-head. He couldn't take it anymore; he finally broke off the kiss as both of his hands reached for either side of Nami's waist to assist her in her movements. Nami sat upwards to a vertical position to allow him to reach deeper inside her as they both started to quicken their pace. Zoro closed his eye as he reveled in the feeling of her sliding up and down his entire length and clenching herself around him every time she fell all the way back down. He found it harder and harder to restrain himself as all of his senses started to heighten; especially his sense of hearing as he concentrated on the sounds of her sensual moans.

Nami, having become very knowledgeable in the workings of her lover, could sense his restraint. She stopped all of her movements and grabbed at the swordsman's hands to draw his attention and his sight back towards her. "You don't have to hold back Zoro." She told him in between heavy breathing. "Take me… take me and make me yours."

Zoro's face became very serious as he rose from his lying position to sit upright. He then wrapped an arm around the mikan-head's slender waist and placed the other in the center of her back as he gently lowered her so her back was on the blanket underneath them while never letting her unjoin from him. Positioning both arms on either side of her to support his weight; he pulled most of his length from her, all except the tip, and looked directly into her eyes as he held his position. This was his warning, he was asking her if she was ready: she bit her lip and gave him a slight not of her head to confirm. With a low growl he thrust his entire length back into her, hard, receiving a high pitch squeak from her as her back arched from the force of the thrust. He backed as far out of her as he could without breaking their connection before thrusting himself back into her again, this time causing her to shoot up and wrap her arms around his torso to pull herself as close as their bodies would allow. He buried his head into the crook of his neck as he continued to thrust into her again and again, breathing in as much of her scent as his lungs would allow. Her arms desperately clawed their way up his back in-between thrusts until her hands snaked their way into his hair. Their bodies were approaching their limits; Zoro could sense as much as Nami's entire body started to shake and her breathing became erratic, as well as the feeling of his own body starting to build pressure.

With another solid thrust Nami's entire body went rigid as she exploded in ecstasy for the second time that night. Zoro continued to thrust into her as her juices washed over his manhood, until the pressure became too much and he felt himself release inside of her, as his own body lost control and he could no longer hold up his own weight and collapsed on top of her. He remained that way for several seconds until he finally regained some control of his body and rolled off of her and onto his back, finally breaking their connection from one another. Fully spent, the two lied on the blanket next to each other, both breathing heavy and exhausted, neither saying a word for what felt like an eternity, but in reality was only a few seconds.

Finally Nami started to stir first; she noticed Zoro's arm stretched out and lying motionless beside her, so she scooted across the blanket and onto his arm to use it as a pillow. Feeling the weight of her head on his arm Zoro looked at the mikan-head and noticed the tired look on her face; knowing that she would be asleep in moments. With his free arm he grabbed the edge of the blanket and dragged it over himself and Nami as he rolled onto his side. Once the blanket was over both of them he wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her in closer to him; causing her to snuggle into his chest in response.

She let out a content "Hmmm" before looking up into his eye. "Happy birthday Zoro" she told him quietly before giving him a final peck on the lips, and then closing her eyes to let sleep take her.

Zoro sat awake for a little while; just watching her sleep. He wanted this moment to last forever. He inwardly wondered to himself on whether he could stay awake long enough to catch her before she slipped out of his arms later and left him in the middle of the night. But Zoro wasn't the type to sit idle; if he wasn't moving, working out, or fighting, he couldn't stop himself from falling asleep. He felt his eye start to get heavy, and he quit fighting the inevitable. He as well, let himself fall into a comfortable sleep.

-0-0-0-0-

Zoro was awakened by the feeling of something nudging him on his shoulder. He could feel the warmth of daylight coming through the window and shining on his face. He continued to keep his eye closed of fear of the brightness from the light. He could feel the presence of someone standing over him, but in his newly awakened state, he couldn't make out who it was. He could hear a feminine voice speaking near him, yet couldn't quite make out what it was trying to say as his ears had yet to adjust. Feeling the nudging on his shoulder again, he finally opened his eye to see who was trying to rouse him from his sleep. It was Robin; she looked down towards him with a polite smile forming on her face as she noticed him start to come to.

He only looked up at her with confusion, before she finally spoke; this time his ears were ready to register what she had been telling him. "Good morning. Everyone is already gathering in the kitchen for breakfast. If the two of you don't want to rouse suspicion amongst the rest of the crew, you might want to come down and join us."

Zoro didn't know how to respond; he could only continue to look at her in confusion. He had been late to breakfast many times, and Robin had never tried to wake him before. What was different now? And did she say 'the two of you'…?

Suddenly Zoro felt movement start to stir against his chest. He looked down towards it to see the familiar sight of mikan-colored hair against him. His eye widened in shock and realization as to what the older woman had meant when referring to 'the two of you'.

Nami let out a disappointed groan before speaking "Thank you Robin. We'll be down in a couple of minutes."

After giving them another polite smile, not that either were really paying attention; the archeologist disappeared in a puff of Sakura Pedals, leaving the two of them alone inside the crows-nest. Zoro continued to remain quiet and motionless as the mikan-head started to stir and continued to grumble about having to wake up. "Dammit, I wanted to stay like this just a little longer." She said, clearly disappointed in having to leave her comfortable position.

As Zoro continued to watch her, he still couldn't believe what was going on. It was already morning, and Nami was still by his side when he woke, she had stayed the entire night. She had never stayed before. He watched as she finally threw the blanket off of them both and sat upwards, stretching her arms outward to the sides in the process. He slowly rose to a sitting position himself and watched with amazement as she tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes with the back of her hand. Was this real? Is she really just sitting there and acting like her waking up beside him was a normal thing?

Nami turned to look at him and took notice of his confused look. "What are you staring at baka?"

"You're still here?" He responded to her. "You didn't sneak off in the middle of the night?"

Nami's face took on a slight pout at the way he worded his response. "Is that a problem?" She said sternly, offended at the thought that he expected her to leave in the middle of the night.

"No" he responded quickly. "It's fine, you can stay whenever you want."

Hearing his answer caused her to break into an instant smile. "Good" she said happily "because I planned on staying tonight too. Now come on; everybody is gonna start to get suspicious if we don't get down to breakfast." She then quickly stood up and walked over to the bench surrounding the room before opening it and taking out a change of clothes, and proceeding to get dressed.

Zoro followed suite and got up to look for his own clothes and his precious swords as well. While dressing; something she said registered in his head and he had to find out what she meant. "You said you planned on staying tonight too, but I don't have watch tonight. It's Usopp's turn."

"We'll figure something out." She told him with confidence, as she started to make her way to the exit. "I'm sure Robin and Franky would love it if they were able to have another night to themselves too. Besides; I think a change of scenery would be nice. This place smells like sweat."

Once fully dressed; Zoro made his way over to the exit to stand beside her. "Where are you thinking we should meet up then, since you think this place is so disgusting?" He asked her, curious of what she had in mind.

"I don't know." She answered him. "Maybe the library; Usopp knows not to go anywhere near there if he thinks I'm working on my maps. Or maybe Chopper's office; there's a bed in there. What do you think?"

"How bout the kitchen?" He told her in a playful smirk.

"Oh yeah… that's a great idea baka." She answered in pure sarcasm while rolling her eyes. "Could you imagine the look on everyone's faces when they come in for breakfast the next morning, and there we are, just lying on the table? Sanji's head might actually explode."

"Hmph" Zoro responded, his playful smirk turning into a cocky one. "Well we're going to have to tell them what's been going on eventually. After all; it's going to get kinda hard to explain where these marks that you leave on me are coming from." He told her as he pointed to the purple colored hickey that she had left on him from the night before.

"Ehh… I'll leave that to you to explain." The mikan-head responded to him with a smile of her own and a shrug of her shoulders, before giving him a final peck on the cheek and got in position to descend the ladder out of the crows-nest. But before descending; she stopped and gave him an inquisitive look. "By the way; what did you end up wishing for when you blew out the candle last night?"

Nami looked up at him from her position and watched as the swordsman's eyebrow rose as he pondered whether or not to answer her. "On second thought…" She began to speak again before he could answer. "Don't tell me. It is bad luck if you tell me, and it might not come true." Nami gave him one last smile before finally beginning to move down the ladder.

Zoro just smiled to himself as he watched the mikan-head work her way down the ladder and out of view. He was glad that she didn't expect him to tell her the silly wish he had made the night before. A silly wish that had actually came true. Before blowing out the candle; he had inwardly wished that she would actually stay the entire night, even if it was only once, and she did. Now he couldn't help but revel in the fact that not only had she stayed the one night, but it was already clear that it was going to become so much more.

Zoro was never really one to celebrate birthdays, but if all his birthdays to come would end up like last night; he couldn't help but thinking that it might not be a bad thing to celebrate them more.

**The End**

Translations and Author Notes:

*Ossan*: crude or informal way of addressing a middle-aged man.

*Nani*: Japanese word for "what"

*All of Zoro's favorites*: In a SBS volume Oda was asked what all of the Straw-hat's favorite foods were. His answer for Zoro was Sea-King meat, white rice, and anything that goes good with ale.

For all of you who thought Zoro made the wish to become the greatest swordsman in the world when he blew out the candle: Sorry, I just don't see Zoro that way. To me he would never wish for that because it would feel like cheating, he would much rather continue to work hard for it and no he achieved it through his own hard work and dedication rather than possibly achieving it through a wish.

Just a friendly reminder that I do still have a poll up on my profile page where I am asking the opinion of you the readers which story I should write next; I have narrowed it down to 3 AUs that the story descriptions are under the section **Stories I Would Like to Write** on my profile page. I am also still taking title suggestions for the fairy tale AU; if anyone would like to give one, please feel free to PM me.

You all know the drill by now, but just in case you might of forgot: Thank you all so much for taking the time to read, and please review.

-fmdevil-


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